Taking Pains
by HanaritsuKrizza
Summary: Eren finds Mikasa's weight loss extremely pressing and decides he doesn't like it. [Slight spoiler for chapter 89]


_I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin._

Warning: Spoiler alert for chapter 89 as this is set after their audience with Her highness.

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"Eat."

Eren Jaeger commands, lightly placing the bowl of soup and a plate of bread on the wooden table. The air is bleak and it gives him a strange sense of uneasiness as it blows inside the room. The flicker of the candle flame dances in the corner and it compels their shadows to follow suit. The overall vicinity is covered with thin dust and Captain Levi will probably go ballistic once he sees it, but it isn't his concern right now.

Seated on the chair in front of the said table is Mikasa Ackerman, tired and exhaustedly blinking up at him. The apparent weight lost makes her appear so flimsy and wan and Eren almost groans in grievance because of it. He wants to think it is just as simple as a number and she can regain it with enough time, but as he chances a glance at her bone-tired and ready to drop body, he concludes that it is not only the weight that she has lost.

The vigor that she usually sported whether in the battle field or simply on Eren matters, the life on those somber-colored eyes that he always find astonishing, and the boundless strength and vitality that has everyone admits to be envious of are all absent from his current subject of concerns. He waves a hand at the food in front of her and urges her to do as she is told.

"I'm fine. You eat," Mikasa speaks, her voice so soft that Eren is left searching for the firmness it lacks. He narrows his eyes and nearly clicks his tongue. They exchange gazes as both refuse to back down. Even in such circumstance, Mikasa flags her stubbornness like an ensign and Eren is not sure whether to feel amused or annoyed with it. Nevertheless, he won't let her predominate, not this time.

"Mikasa," he gruffs, gazes firm and unyielding, ready to reprimand her for another obstinacy.

Mikasa fixes her heavy-lidded eyes on him, brows furrowing in a mix of resistance and confusion.

"Eat," he repeats and with a sigh of defeat, the woman obliges. He releases a sigh of his own and sits across her, intently watching as Mikasa picks the spoon and slowly stirs the soup.

Eren senses the weariness striking in. He feels tired – physically and mentally. The memories that he is not sure from whose keep on flooding his mind and they confuse him to no end. It boggles him and astonishes him at the same time. It provides them informations that fit the missing puzzle pieces of the whole history of Titans and answers that they desperately seek all this time.

They all have been waiting for this, for the time that feels like they are finally one step closer to the end. To find the truth and its origin and to ultimately finish the war that has exceeded long enough for everyone to suffer great pains. They already lost too many treasures, they already lost too many wills, spirits, and dispositions, they already lost too many lives.

"Eren?" Mikasa interrupts his internal reflection as he realizes that he has been staring unblinkingly at her.

"Sorry, just continue eating."

He notices the concern painting her dull eyes when he scans her face. Her cheekbones have become prominent and her features display an uncharted sharpness on it.

Despite his facade of constant annoyance and irritation, Eren always looks up at Mikasa. She is strong, level-headed and well fortified. She can do anything with such grace and power. She protects him and cares for him to the point of overindulgence, but Eren is secretly grateful for it because she is there, at all times.

Before his mind can process what he is doing, his hand moves on its own to reach out to Mikasa. He caresses her cheek and gently rubs the cheekbone with his thumb, deciding he doesn't like it. She is prettier when she looks healthy.

"What's wrong?" Mikasa asks again, probably a little worried with his strange behavior.

"You need to eat enough," Eren pronounces for the second time of the day. Mikasa's expression alleviates as she captures the hand on her cheek with her own. Her palm feels warm, contrary to the temperature of her face that oddly gives a slight chill.

"I'm fine, Eren," she whispers mellowly while leaning to his touch.

He doesn't know if it is true, what he knows is that she says it to soothe his worries and ease him from his concerns and Eren thinks _how unfair_ because even now, he is the one being comforted, he is the one being pampered, he is the one being cared.

"Geez. At least let me take care of you, _damn it_." He casts his eyes down as his hand falls along with hers. There is a sudden shift from his tone as it goes emotional but he chooses to ignore it. "You're not the only one capable of doing so," he adds, feeling the hand lightly squeezing his.

When she doesn't respond, he continues, all the while twisting his hand so that he is the one holding hers, "Mikasa, you need to eat. You need to regain your energy. You need to be strong, like you used to be, like before."

He feels the tears prickling his eyes and the frustration building up. He has yet to tell her his assumptions about the titan who killed his mother and Hannes-san being Dina, the ex-wife of his father. Mikasa has the right to know, but what good will it do for her in the present situation? The last thing he wants is to see her suffer again.

Half of her life, she lives it in pain - full of heartaches and tragedies. She has enough experience of suffering and grief that she always bears alone. She has a wide knowledge of how cruel and harsh the world is, and yet, she still has the audacity to take even _his_ pains.

For Mikasa, Eren is her top priority, no matter how much of an asshole he is. She always put him first above anything else, always going for such lengths just to save and protect him. She always provides him his necessities and keeps him safe and alive. Because for Mikasa, Eren is her savior, Eren is her family, Eren is her _life_.

Eren is truly appreciative for everyone he is - and was - with—Armin, Captain Levi, Commander Hange, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Historia. However, if there is someone he truly needs right now and wants to be by his side, it is Mikasa. Because Mikasa has been with him since forever, because Mikasa understands him, because Mikasa _needs_ him.

" _Eren..._ " Mikasa calls out. He sees her other hand reaching out to him and he immediately grabs it, now holding both of her hands with his.

"Mikasa, I need you by my side. Please."

Eren doesn't dare to look at her face as he hides the bashfulness because of his sentiments and actions. He surprises himself, too. This side of him that comes to light is all new and unfamiliar. But he can feel the weight of her stares and can sense the understanding on them and concludes it is alright once in a while.

"Okay," she whispers.

Eren breathes, the staleness of the air thick on his nose. He lets the tear slip away and squeezes her hands. He embraces the warmness emitting from her hands, from her presence and from her alone and decides he likes it.

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I'm accepting all kinds of reaction, from calm and normal to bloody and trashy, just send me a review if you have some. Thanks a lot for checking it out!

 _A/N: I swear I'm a Rivamika shipper, but recently, with the latest chapters, I found Eren cool and these two endearing, so yeah, this happened. Well, I guess I'm not loyal. Huehehe. And gosh, I'm so f*cking excited for the AOT season 2._

EDIT: [09/04/'18] Oh dear heavens, Shingeki no Kyojin season 3 is very intense, like really, even though I already read the manga, I'm still stupefied. It never fails to amaze me.


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